Analysis of Elegy XX. He Compares His Humble Fortune With the Distress of Others



Why droops this heart with fancied woes forlorn?
Why sinks my soul beneath this wintry sky?
What pensive crowds, by ceaseless labours worn,
What myriads, wish to be as blessed as I!

What though my roofs, devoid of pomp, arise,
Nor tempt the proud to quit his destined way?
Nor costly art my flowery dales disguise,
Where only simple friendship deigns to stray?

See the wild sons of Lapland's chill domain,
That scoop their couch beneath the drifted snows!
How void of hope they ken the frozen plain,
Where the sharp east for ever, ever blows!

Slave though I be, to Delia's eyes a slave,
My Delia's eyes endear the bands I wear;
The sigh she causes well becomes the brave,
The pang she causes 'tis even bliss to bear.

See the poor native quit the Libyan shores,
Ah! not in Love's delightful fetters bound!
No radiant smile his dying peace restores,
Nor love, nor fame, nor friendship, heals his wound.

Let vacant bards display their boasted woes;
Shall I the mockery of grief display?
No; let the Muse his piercing pangs disclose,
Who bleeds and weeps his sum of life away!

On the wild beach in mournful guise he stood,
Ere the shrill boatswain gave the hated sign;
He dropp'd a tear unseen into the flood;
He stole one secret moment, to repine.

Yet the Muse listen'd to the plaints he made,
Such moving plaints as Nature could inspire;
To me the Muse his tender plea convey'd,
But smooth'd and suited to the sounding lyre.

'Why am I ravish'd from my native strand?
What savage race protects this impious gain?
Shall foreign plagues infest this teeming land,
And more than seaborn monsters plough the main?

'Here the dire locusts' horrid swarms prevail;
Here the blue asps with livid poison swell;
Here the dry dipsa writhes his sinuous mail;
Can we not here secure from envy dwell?

'When the grim Lion urged his cruel chase,
When the stern Panther sought his midnight prey,
What fate reserved me for this Christian race?
A race more polish'd, more severe than they!

'Ye prowling Wolves! pursue my latest cries;
Thou hungry Tiger! leave thy reeking den;
Ye sandy Wastes! in rapid eddies rise;
Tear me from the whips and scorns of men!

'Yet in their face superior beauty glows;
Are smiles the mien of Rapine and of Wrong?
Yet from their lip the voice of mercy flows,
And even religion dwells upon their tongue.

'Of blissful haunts they tell, and brighter climes,
Where gentle maids, convey'd by Death, repair,
But stain'd with blood, and crimson'd o'er with crimes,
Say, shall they merit what they paint so fair?

'No; careless, hopeless of those fertile plains,
Rich by our toils, and by our sorrows gay,
They ply our labours, and enhance our pains,
And feign these distant regions to repay.

'For them our tusky elephant expires;
For them we drain the mine's embowell'd gold;
Where rove the brutal nation's wild desires?-
Our limbs are purchased, and our life is sold!

'Yet shores there are, bless'd shores for us remain,
And favour'd isles, with golden fruitage crown'd,
Where tufted flowerets paint the verdant plain,
Where every breeze shall med'cine every wound.

'There the stern tyrant that embitters life,
Shall, vainly suppliant, spread his asking hand;
There shall we view the billows' raging strife,
Aid the kind breast, and waft his boat to land.'


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ FDFD XXXA KLKL MEME NONO PDPD CQCQ FXFX RHRH SDSD TUTU EJEJ VMVM
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 1111011101 110111011 111111111 1111011101 1101111101 11011100101 1101010111 101111101 1111010101 1111110101 1011110101 111111101 111010111 0111010101 01110110111 10110101001 1101010101 11001110101 1111110111 1101011101 1101001101 1101110101 1101111101 1011010111 1011010101 1101010101 111101011 1011010111 1101110101 1101110101 1101010101 111111101 11010110101 1101011101 0111010101 1011010101 1011110101 101111101 1111011101 1011011101 101101111 1101111101 0111010111 1101011101 1101011101 1101010101 111010111 10110100101 110111011 1111011101 01001010111 1101110101 1101011101 1111011011 1111011111 1101011101 111010110101 11101001101 0111010101 11101100010 11110111 11010101010 101110010111 1111111101 01111011 110110101 11001111001 10110111 110111101 1111010101 1011011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 3,192
Words 571
Sentences 34
Stanzas 18
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 72
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 142
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:57 min read
107

William Shenstone

 · 1714 · Halesowen
 · 1763 · Halesowen

William Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes. more…

All William Shenstone poems | William Shenstone Books

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